Man gets life sentence over genocide crimes

WESTERN PROVINCE KARONGI — The Bwishyura Gacaca Court presided over by its president , Charlotte Mukamudenge, last week sentenced to life imprisonment a man alleged to have been one of the genocide masterminds in the former Kibuye Prefecture (now Western Province). Cylliaque Bisengimana, 58, who was a veterinary worker during the genocide, is among other suspects to be tried within the first category by the Gacaca Court. The verdict was based on testimonies from survivors and other residents who were present during the genocide, according to court proceedings. The court ruled that, following the evidence adduced from survivors, Bisengimana, was found guilty of the charges which had been brought against him. In their testimonies, survivors accused Bisengimana of among other crimes rape, organising and leading many attacks that killed Tutsis in Bisesero. He allegedly transported Interahamwe militias from the neighbouring Rutsiro District to carry out massacres in Kibuye. “This man raped many women in this area. He is a monster,’ Jeannette Mukamurara, a genocide survivor said in her testimony. ‘He should be given a stiff penalty. He was at the head of the heinous acts perpetrated against some of us. He was like a lion because every Tutsi feared even to meet him on the way,’ another survivor said in an emotional testimony. In his defence, Bisengimana, a resident of former Gitesi Commune (now Karongi District) denied the allegations saying he was innocent. He argued that he did not engage in any of the accusations because he had gone to visit his relatives in Gisenyi during the Genocide, but his defence was dismissed. Ends